Ay Caramba!Spanish-Language TV Just as Risqué as
English-Language Fare

By Lucia Alzaga

BACKGROUND

America's
greatest wealth is in its people. Since the arrival of the first colonists
to the coast of Virginia in 1607 and the Pilgrims thirteen years later,
Americans embraced immigrants from the most diverse cultural backgrounds.
The assimilation process has not always been easy. Integration into a new
society continues to be a challenge, not only for the newcomers but also for
the original habitants, but these challenges have in many ways made this
country stronger.

During the last decade
Hispanics have been the fastest growing ethnic/cultural group in America. As
a matter of fact, in 2002, for the first time Hispanics surpass
African-Americans as the nation's largest minority (38.8. million, or 12.5
percent of the population, compared with 38.3 million African-Americans or
12.3 percent.)[1]The use of the Spanish Language has been growing as well. While the Hispanic
population grew 58 percent between 1990 and 2000, the number of Hispanics
who speak Spanish grew 61 percent.[2]

This growth of the U.S.
Hispanic population has not been ignored by companies and advertising
agencies, who see Hispanic households not as a restricted niche anymore, but
as an expansive market and source of important revenues. Between 1999 and
2002, the average income of U.S. Hispanic households increased 15.9 percent.
According to Héctor Orci, CEO of La Agencia de Orci, a Hispanic advertising
agency based in Los Angeles,
disposable income among Hispanics living in the U.S.
is larger than the gross national product of Spain
or Mexico.[3]
The impact of the expansion of the Hispanic population can also be
understood by following the latest moves of the two larger Spanish-language
networks in the U.S.
In June 2002, giant Univision announced a deal to acquire Dallas-based
Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, a powerful radio chain for

Some observers consider
that advertising firms are lagging in promoting on Spanish networks, but
many of the country's top advertisers, including Sears, Hyundai, Allstate,
and Colgate-Palmolive, realize the potential of the Latin market and are
investing heavily in advertising on Telemundo and Univision. Hispanic
Broadcasting Corporation's research director, Jeff Williams, asserts that
Spanish-dominant listeners tend to welcome ads in Spanish, whereas they
don't perceive ads on English stations as targeted to them.[4]
Coincidentally, Tom McGarrity, co-president of Network Sales for Univision
Communications, states that recent Nielsen and Mad Logic research on the
motivations, behaviors, and attitudes of U.S. Hispanics confirmed that
"advertising to Hispanics in Spanish is more effective than in English due
to the trust and respect communicated through the Spanish language."
According to the studies, 52 percent of Hispanic viewers frequently obtain
information for making purchase decisions from commercials on
Spanish-language television.[5]
Moreover, Nielsen reports that half of Hispanic-American households prefer
watching programs in Spanish.[6]

Hispanics reportedly also
watch more television than the general population. According to Stacy Lynn
Koerner, senior vice president at ad-buyer Initiative Media, Hispanics spend
58.6 hours a week watching television, 4.4 hours more than non-Hispanics.[7]
Hispanics also account for 84 percent of the growth of total U.S. adults
18-34 and 18-49 (the demographic most coveted by networks and advertisers).
Specifically, Nielsen estimates that Hispanics account for 18 percent of the
18-34 television audience, and 15 percent of the 18-49 viewers. Nielsen also
recently found that over the past ten years adult audiences aged 18-49
watching primetime Spanish-language TV grew 107 percent, while young
audiences ages 18-34, and teen audiences ages 12-17 grew 96 percent and 66
percent, respectively.[8]
These numbers demonstrate that the Hispanic population is younger than the
population in general, and make up a large portion of the key demographics
for networks and advertisers.

Consequently, the PTC has
been sensitive to the growing presence and influence of Hispanics in this
country. As a matter of fact, not only are many of our members Hispanic, but
also several of our most active Grassroots chapters are located in
metropolitan areas with large and strong communities of Hispanic heritage.
As much as English-speaking parents have spoken up to complain about the
state of general broadcasting, many of our members have raised their
concerns about the questionable content both on Univision and Telemundo.
Thus, responding to the latest demographic trends and the needs of our
members, the PTC decided to conduct an exploratory survey of primetime TV on
both of the primary Spanish-language networks to see what they have to offer
to families of Hispanic ancestry in this country.

A Brief Description of
Spanish-Language Programming

The purpose of this study
is to survey what is offered to Hispanic families during prime time on the
main Spanish-language networks, Univision and Telemundo. Since the
programming on both networks is substantially different from the shows on
the six major U.S. broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, UPN, and the WB);
this study will avoid drawing comparisons between Spanish- and
English-language networks. Having said this, aggregated data of
English-language networks from recent PTC's released studies, will be
utilized solely for the purpose of offering readers a point of reference.

The main difference between
Spanish and English networks' primetime programming is the Spanish-language
channels' heavy reliance on soap operas -- telenovelas - on weekdays. Both Univision and Telemundo dedicate the 8-9 p.m. and 9-10 p.m. time slots to
telenovelas, rather than sitcoms or weekly dramas as is typical on
English-language TV.

Telenovelas are not exactly
like soap operas seen on the American broadcast networks in the afternoons.
Telenovelas run from 13 to 29 weeks - sort of like an extended mini-series
-- and therefore have a definite beginning, middle, and end,[9]
unlike American soaps, which can run for decades (As the World Turns,
for example, has been going since 1956). Also unlike U.S. soap operas,
telenovelas are often watched by the entire family.

Univision seems to offer
more traditional programming than Telemundo. On weekdays, the 10-11 p.m.
time slot is dedicated to general interest programs and talk shows, such as
Cristina, Don Francisco Presenta, or Ver paraCreer,
while weekend programming is typically comprised of variety shows (Sábado
Gigante) and sketch-format comedy shows (Los Metiches, Cero en
Conducta, La Hora Pico). These shows are similar in format to
programs that have been popular for years in many Latin American countries.

With the exception of
telenovelas, Telemundo's programming more closely resembles that of
English-language networks. Not only does Telemundo air American dubbed shows
such as Guinness Records, Ripley's, and American theatrical
releases,[10]
it also airs reality shows such as Protagonistas de Novela 2.

Telemundo's telenovelas are
less traditional than Univision's. Los Teens is very much akin to
Beverly Hills 90210 or Fox's current hit The OC, and Ladrón de
Corazones, a Mexican production, blends elements of romance and police
thrillers not commonly observed in the genre of the Latin American
telenovela.

METHODOLOGY

The PTC examined three
weeks (June 3rd through June 23rd, 2003) of prime time
programming (8-11 p.m.) on commercial Spanish-language networks, Univision
and Telemundo. The study period comprised 99 separate shows for a total of
104 hours of programming. Only made-for-TV programming was included.
Analysts concerned themselves with vulgar language, sexual material, and
violence.

In the foul language
category, we did not keep track of "religious" words (i.e. "infierno," "maldito"),
or terms such as "bastardo," since they are not considered offensive in most
Spanish-speaking countries. We did count words considered obscene such as
"culo" or "carajo." (A complete list of the profanities tracked and how
often they were used is in the Appendix.)

The sex category was
divided into two parts: sexual innuendo and graphic sex. The violence
category was also subdivided into two categories: depicted violence and
implied violence/graphic descriptions. The distinction between discussed
and graphic treatment of sex and violence is relevant because numerous
studies on media effects have shown that graphic depictions of both sex and
violence have greater impact on viewers' behaviors than mere talk about or
discussions of sex and violence.[11][12]

OVERVIEW OF MAJOR
FINDINGS

Both Univision and
Telemundo are substantially less violent than English-language
networks. Univision featured 1.31 instances of violence per hour, while
Telemundo featured 1.81 instances per hour. (For reference, in the
Special Report TV Bloodbath, the PTC documented a per-hour
average of 4.56 instances of violence during prime time on the six major
broadcast networks.)

Sexual content in both
networks is comparable to that of English-language networks. Univision
included 4.34 sexual references per hour, while Telemundo 3.74. (For
reference, in the Special Report Sex Loses its Appeal, the PTC
documented an average of 4.59 instances of sexual content per hour
during prime time on the six major broadcast networks.)

There is significantly
less foul language on Spanish-language television during prime time than
on its English-language counterparts. Univision registered 0.41
profanities per hour, while Telemundo's programming averaged only 0.32.
(The PTC documented an average of 6.62 instances of foul language per
hour on the six broadcast networks during the prime time in The Blue
Tube.)

Other Findings:

Of the two
Spanish-language networks, Univision had the highest levels of foul
language and sexual content while Telemundo had the most violent
programming.

The 10-11 p.m. time
slot on Univision contained the most violence, with 2.06 violent
instances per hour. On Telemundo, the 9-10 p.m. time slot contained the
most violence (3.83 instances per hour).

Special multi-hour
programs like Sábado Gigante, which runs from 8-11 p.m., contained
the highest levels of sexual content on Univision. Such programs
averaged 9.11 instances of sexual content per hour. On Telemundo, the
8-9 p.m. Family Hour had the highest levels of sexual content, with 6.58 instances
of sex per hour.

The 8-9 p.m. Family
Hour on Univision contained the highest levels of foul language, an
average of one profanity per hour. Overall, Telemundo had far fewer
profanities, and such language occurred with the greatest frequency
(0.54 instances per hour) during the 10-11 p.m. timeslot.

The highest levels of
sexual content occurred on the popular variety show Sábado Gigante
on Univision, and the adolescent-oriented telenovela Los Teens
on Telemundo.

RESULTS/EXAMPLES

UNIVISION

Time slots

Hours

Obscenities

Average
Obscenities

Sex

Average sex

Violence

Average Violence

8-9 p.m.

18

18

1

82

4.56

21

1.17

9-10

18

1

.06

54

3

25

1.38

10-11

16

5

.31

47

2.94

33

2.06

Spec. (8-11)

9

1

.11

82

9.11

1

.11

Totals

61

25

.41

265

4.34

80

1.31

Violence

Compared to
English-language networks, Univision contains very little violence. During
the study period, the PTC counted 80 instances of violence, for a rate of
1.31 instances of violence per hour. By contrast, NBC, the least violent
U.S broadcast network, still contained higher levels of violence, with 1.8
instances of violence per hour throughout prime time.[13]

Univision airs two soap
operas Monday through Friday and the genre, quite traditional, doesn't favor
violent storylines. It's important to mention that this study covered three
of the last four weeks of the telenovela Entre el Amor y el Odio.
These episodes weren't particularly violent or racy. However, one episode
included in this study featured the stabbing and death of a character called
Gabriel, an incident that was very gory and graphic. A character called Fuensanta is ambushed by a bunch of thugs in the street. Gabriel runs to
help her and ends up being stabbed. He agonizes and bleeds to death in the
middle of the street. He dies surrounded by his relatives and the horrified
neighbors waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The event runs throughout
the entire episode, with sporadic breaks to some other events that take
place simultaneously.

The highest levels of
violence to be seen on Univision occured during the 10-11 p.m. time slot,
with a rate of 2.06 violent incidents per hour. (For purposes of comparison,
ABC was the least violent U.S.
broadcast network during that time slot, with three instances of violence
per hour.)[14]The most violent program was Casos de laVida Real, which airs
twice a week and features reenactments of real-life stories that usually end
tragically.

On June 6, 2003 Casos de
la Vida Real presented two rape/murder cases. The first story was about
a businessman who finds out after a trip that his daughter was repeatedly
savagely raped by his second wife's lover. The reenactment of the case
features a fairly explicit depiction of the child being raped.

Ramiro: "It's just I was craving for a good… don't be
jealous… it was just a little…"

Sara: "You're going to get me into trouble with her dad… if
he kicks me out of here because of your lust, what are we going to do for a
living?"

After the father of the
little girl finds out about the rape, he plots revenge against the perverted
couple. He catches them having sex and shoots them both.

As if this weren't enough,
another no less sordid story followed it. This time, the scenario was a very
low-income household. An older man spends most of his days drinking and
bossing his wife (or mistress) around. One fateful day he realizes that the
woman's teenage daughter Irma is very attractive and starts to make sexual
advances to the young lady. The rape scenes are rather explicit. The story
concludes with Irma's brother shooting the evil old man.

Sex

Univision can be very
raunchy, averaging 4.34 sexual scenes, situations, or references per hour.
This is comparable to the quantity of sexual content one would see on UPN
(the third raciest network), which averaged 4.75 sexual references per hour
during November 2002 sweeps.[15]

Even though Casos de la
Vida Real is often sexually charged, the raunchiest program on
Univision, Sábado Gigante, which airs on Saturday evenings from 8-11
p.m. and averages 9.1 sexual references per hour. (As a point of reference,
NBC, the most sexually-charged network averaged 7.68 instances of sexual
content per hour during November 2002 sweeps.)[16]Sábado Gigante is a three-hour variety show hosted by Latin American
icon Don Francisco. Voluptuous women in skimpy outfits, interviews,
contests featuring members of the audience, video clips, comedians, and
musical sections, all provide Don Francisco with ample opportunities to
crack raunchy sexual jokes. For example, during the June 7th,
2003 airing, Don Francisco presented a clip of himself at a zoo interviewing
one of the zoo's bilingual staffers.

Staffer: "This is the bone of the penis of a walrus." (Man
asks Don Francisco about the gender of the noun "morsa.")

Staffer: "Okay, this is the bone of the penis of a
walrus."

Don Francisco: "The bone of the penis. So the penis has a
bone inside…"

Staffer: "A bone inside…"

Don Francisco: "Because the humans… Because, we, the humans
would have a series of problems if we had a bone inside, but we don't have
one…"

Don Francisco: "How many years does this animal live?"

Staffer: "It lives around forty years."

Don Francisco: "And they can always make love until the day
they die…"

Staffer: "That's true…"

Don Francisco: "The bone helps them?"

Man: "But you know, the female says when she can make love
and just as the female of the human being, she changes her mind very
quickly, so when she wants to, she wants to do it right there, and when you
have one of these, you can do it at any time."

Foul Language

Univision contains far
fewer vulgarities than its English-language counterparts, averaging only
0.41 vulgar utterances per hour. Nevertheless, racy utterances can be heard
during Sunday evening comedy shows like Los Metiches, which features
a series of humorous sketches poking fun at celebrities (mostly Latin
celebrities from Mexico and Cuba who are popular among Hispanics living in
the U.S.)
This program contains mostly scatological and sexual vulgarities. One
popular sketch, for example, features a group called Los Jaimitos who
sing silly rhymes, which usually end with a crass profanity that is bleeped
but perfectly identifiable. On June 15, 2003 Los Metiches presented
this performance by Los Jamitos:

"Everyone know Antonio Banderas, his Spanish accent cannot be
disguised. When I listen to him speaking English, it seems that he has a
finger in his [bleeped ‘asshole.']"

TELEMUNDO

Time slots

Hours

Obscenities

Average
Obscenities

Sex

Average sex

Violence

Average Violence

8-9 p.m.

17

4

.23

112

6.58

32

1.88

9-10

12

4

.33

37

3.08

46

3.83

10-11

11

6

.54

12

1.09

0

0

Spec. (8-11)

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

43

14

.32

161

3.74

78

1.81

Violence

Telemundo contains higher
levels of violence (1.81 violent situations per hour) than Univision (1.31
per hour), but is still far less violent than U.S. broadcast series. The
9-10 p.m. timeslot had highest frequency of violent content with 3.83
instances per hour. By contrast, every U.S. broadcast network except ABC
and NBC featured more than six violent situations per hour.

Telemundo contains higher
levels of violence (1.81 violent situations per hour) than Univision (1.31
per hour), but is still far less violent than U.S. broadcast series. The
9-10 p.m. timeslot had highest frequency of violent content with 3.83
instances per hour. By contrast, every U.S. broadcast network except ABC
and NBC featured more than six violent situations per hour.

Although Telemundo's
programming schedule also relies heavily on soap operas, these soaps do not
strictly fit the style of the traditional Latin American telenovela.
Ladrón de Corazones, for example, is a blend of action-police-drama with
a soap-opera format.

Ladrón de Corazones
is about a young man, Gustavo Velazco, who wants to avenge the memory of his
father, a cop who was killed while investigating a powerful Mexican drug
cartel. Gustavo offers his savvy and expertise to the police so he can work
undercover and thus crack the cartel, and at the same time, learn the truth
about his father's death. Gustavo only knows that his father was murdered by
another cop with strong ties to the cartel. While working for the police,
Gustavo falls in love with stunning undercover officer Verónica Vega, who's
the daughter of the man who killed his father.

On the June 10, 2003
episode of Ladrón de Corazones, Antonio Vega, Gustavo's father's
killer, is now a wealthy executive. In order to maintain his illegal
activities in secret, Vega sends one of his assistants to kill a former
partner in crime.

Ibáñez tells a man called
Ugalde that he will be killed while a thug is pointing a gun at Ugalde's
head. Ibáñez gives the thug the order to pull the trigger. Ugalde is
terrified and begs Ibáñez to let him shoot himself. Ibáñez accepts, since it
fits Antonio Vega's plan of disguising the crime as if it were a suicide. Ibáñez continues pointing at Ugalde to make sure the poor man won't attempt
any attack in turn. Ugalde starts crying and cannot commit suicide. Ibáñez
grabs the gun and shoots him in the head. Blood splashes Ibañez's hands and
face. Then, Ibáñez proceeds to carefully relocate the gun in Ugalde's hand.

Sex

Telemundo is somewhat less
racy (3.74 instances per hour) than Univision (4.34 sexual references per
hour). The highest levels of sexual content on Telemundo occur during the 8-9 p.m. Family Hour, with an average of 6.58 sexual scenes or
situations occurring per hour. This spike in sexual content during that
time slot is due largely to the teen soap Los Teens, which airs on
Telemundo during that period five nights a week.

Los Teens
follows a group of middle-upper class Hispanic seniors who attend Coral
Gables High School in South Florida. While some of its story lines feature
cultural contrasts and the effects of divorce on children, Los Teens
focuses on sex as if it were the one and only one dimension in the life of
an adolescent. In addition, kids speak a sort of Spanglish, and some
of the English words they borrow are quite disturbing, as they reflect
confusion about or indifference to moral values. For example, in order to
suggest that someone is "cool" or "successful," they use the word "pimp" as
it is shown in the following transcribed scene.

On the June 6, 2003 episode
of Los Teens, two girls gossip about a teen called Raúl, who
apparently had an unsuccessful sexual experience with a girl.

Valeria: "Uhmm… a bit… is it true that Raúl is not as pimp
as he looks?"

Madeline: "Let's say it didn't work out for minimal
reasons…"

Valeria: "That's a story!"

Madeline: "He deserves that for claiming to be so good and
for going out with all the cheerleaders…"

Valeria: "Don't swear, because the entire school is going to
know who the true Raulito is… very soon…" (making a gesture with her pinky
finger).

Double standards can also
be observed regarding the teens' sexual activity. Young males are encouraged
to be sexually active even when they are not in a romantic relationship. On
the other hand, girls would be considered promiscuous if they exhibited a
similar pattern of behavior, such as having multiple partners or having sex
outside a serious relationship. Not only is sexual activity recommended for
adolescent males, but so are kinky sexual fantasies and open discussions
about them.

On the June 10 episode of
Los Teens, Diego, who is very successful with the girls, and his
friend Santos,
who is desperate to lose his virginity, have the following dialogue:

Diego: "Okay, okay... Look, dude, if a woman rejects you
without any logical explanation, she's a dyke for sure."

Santos: "Ah... so that is
what is happening to me... of course. That's why they don't pay attention to
me. It's because I'm hitting on a bunch of lesbians."

Diego: "Santos,
I didn't want to say..."

Santos: "No, but it's just
that clear, dude... Listen, wouldn't it be that I need to be with two women
at the same time? Ah, two women..."

The conversation continues…

Diego: "Also, if all those women were lesbian as you say, I
would already be in a monastery. Look, Huey, listen to me: Stop thinking
that they are the problem."

Santos: "I wouldn't see it
as a problem..."

Diego: "Ah, no? Why not?"

Santos: "Because if you
think about it, two women at the same time... it's not such a bad idea, eh?"

Diego: "It's not a bad idea..."

Santos: "Bad?"

Diego: "No... Listen, wait a second, so you are the problem,
then."

Santos: "Am I?"

Diego: "Yes."

Santos: "So are you saying
that I have a lesbian inside and that's why I like women so much?"

Diego: "No, the problem is that all women know perfectly well
that you only think about sex. Sex, sex, sex. Sex in the morning, sex at
noon, sex in the afternoon, sex at night... sex, sex, sex..."

Foul Language

Telemundo is rather clean
as far as language goes, with only .32 profanities per hour overall.
(Univision averaged 0.41 vulgarities per hour but we should take into
account that Univision has more hours of original programming). Mild
profanities such as "carajo" and "joder" have been heard in Ladrón de
Corazones. Some bleeped language, such as "cojones" was present in some
episodes of the reality show Protagonistas de Novela 2, as in the
following example:

On the June 13, 2003
episode of Protagonistas de Novela 2, Yesenia loses her temper:

Yesenia: "It's true that you have the [bleeped ‘cojones']
to sit here…"

CONCLUSION

Statistical averages in
this case can be deceiving since they seem to show that networks are fairly
free of questionable content. However, if we analyze each hourly segment and
certain shows in particular, not only do the numbers tell a different story,
but also the content is often so seriously objectionable that it could make
any concerned parent raise his/her eyebrows.

Popular shows such as
Univision's Sábado Gigante, which is the longest-running weekly TV
program in history[17]
is overflowing with raunchy jokes, women in skimpy clothes - perpetuating
the objectification of women, and vulgarity in general.

Telemundo does not do much
better. In its attempts to adjust the format of its programming to an
American palate, Telemundo blends the traditional telenovela format with
teen elements, producing a hybrid such as Los Teens. This show was so
charged with sexual dialogues that it almost looked like an irresponsible
and flawed course in sexual education, a syllabus filled with double
standards and misconceptions.

Overall, Spanish-language
networks seem to favor all that is shocking and sensationalistic, either
with telenovelas and general interest shows such as Univision's Casos de
la Vida Real, Aquí y Ahora, or Telemundo's Ripley's and
specials such as Carnaval do Brasil.

It is sad that Spanish
networks knowing that Hispanic families tend to watch TV together[18],
refuse to raise the bar and don't have anything better to offer them than
loud and off-color programming. We believe that sponsors, knowing the fact
that Hispanic families sit together in front of the TV set, should support
programs with deeper and more responsible content that encourage family
dialogue in a productive manner. It would be commendable if popular icons
such as Don Francisco, who already have an incredible following, abandoned
their tendency to impudence and used their image and position to promote a
more wholesome way of entertainment.

Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.